Bromo, Tengger, Semeru National Park

Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park is a National Park in East Java Province, Indonesia. This National Park is part of the administrative area of Pasuruan Regency, Malang Regency, Lumajang Regency andProbolinggo Regency. This Park was settled since 1982, but it already protected since 1919, with covers a total area of 5,250 hectares at an altitude of about 2,100 m.

Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park is the only conservation area in Indonesia that having sand sea, most people in Indonesia call as Lautan Pasir Tengger. This area is lies acrros the caldera of an ancient volcano mountain of Tengger, from which four new volcanic cones emerged.

In this Park, there is the highest mountain in Java, Semeru Mountain; the famous mount of Bromo and there is four lakes and 50 rivers. Others are also become the interesting to be visited, like; Mount Batok, Mount Kursi, Mount Watangan, Mount Widodaren. The lakes that recognize are, Ranu Pane,Ranu Regulo, Ranu Kumbolo and Ranu Darungan.

For those who like hiking, it is advisable to take the route from Malang, because they can enjoy the magnificent sand sea longer than other route. The Starting point can be start from Ngadas, which is the last village around the National Park. It is also advisable to charge the supplies, especially water, for after passing the Ngadas Village there will not be found some source of water.

Beside the scenery, there are numbers of flora and fauna that attractively can be found in this National Park. The rare and endangered species that live in the Park include civet (Pardofelis marmorata), deer (Cervus timorensis), long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), deer (Muntiacus muntjak), red jungle fowl (Gallus Gallus), leopard (Panthera pardus), ajag (Cuon alpinus), and various species of birds such as kestrel bird (Accipiter virgatus), hornbills (Buceros rhinoceros silvestris), Crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela Crested), black Srigunting (Dicrurus macrocercus), bold eagle (Haliastur indus), and grouse that live in Ranu Pane, Ranu Regulo, and Ranu Kumbolo.

The area around the Park in inhabited by the indigenous people of Tengger. Tengger people are one of the few Hindu communities in Java Island. The local religion is the remnant from Majapahit era. Therefore, the cultures and the religion is similar to Bali, but it contains even more animist elements. The people of Tengger are believe that they are the descendets of Majapahit empire and they were driven into the hills after the arrival of Muslim Madurese during the 19th century.

So far, it is already reveal that this National Park is named after the two famous mountains of Bromo and Semeru, also, it inhabited by Tengger people.

More info about Bromo, Tengger, Semeru National Parks visit www.eastjava.com